NANNY

In this psychological fable of horror from rising star filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu, Aisha (Anna Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasingly unsettled by the family’s volatile home life. As his arrival approaches, a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.

Awards: “Nanny” won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic category. Jusu is just the second Black woman director, and Nanny the first horror film, to receive this honor (details via Vulture).